Howling Pain
by KillingTheSilence
Summary: Natsuki stared in the blank eyes of the person that she had come so close to. Shizuru rasied her gun to the emerald eye teen's head slowly, a line tear going down her cheek. "I'm sorry, Shizuru."
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Plump**

**I do not own Mai-hime/my-otome. **

**Summary: **All Natsuki wanted to do was escape her parents fighting and the gang she had become involved with. So when the Garderobe Army of National Defense comes to the neutral zone of Aries to recruit solders, she jumps at the chance to leave. But trying to hide the dark secrets from her crimson eyed sempai may prove to be difficult.

**A/N: To be honest, I was on YouTube watching a video someone made to go with the song "Hands Held High" by Linkin park. When I went to leave a comment, one that was in almost all caps caught my attention. I seriously want to Thai kick this person because of what they said. It seriously mocked every man and woman who has given their life. And not just for America either, any soldier of any country would take offence to what this person said. So I got this idea for a story. **

**R&R.**

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Emerald eyes stared at the paper in front of them. It was a light brown color, the edges dressed in the gold seals of the military. Natsuki stared at the paper, her right hand seeming to tremble as it held a ball point pen just above a line that said two simple words.

'Sign here.'

Why was it so hard? You could see it on commercials all the time, a young lad proudly signs their name on the sheet of paper, their parents in the back ground watching as they did so. The mother would be in her husband's embrace, lightly crying and saying how proud she was of her child. The father would nod his head with understanding as pride swelled in his eyes.

But for Natsuki, there was no proud parents in the back ground. She was sitting in her decent sized room, wolf and band posters covered the navy blue walls, a small dresses had wolf figures on it, some howling and others fighting each other. Hanging on her closet door was a leather motorcycle suit, black with red strips going down the sides. Natsuki moved her cobalt hair out of her eyes, a small bead of sweat going down her pale skin. This wasn't how she had planned her future. She would follow in her parents' footsteps and become a scientist that studied medicines. She wanted to save people, cure them of their pain. But what this paper offered was the opposite of what she had planned out, the life she had played out in her head many times before. It shook her to the core, the thought of watching someone die at her own hands. True she had seen people die before, being part of a blood thirsty gang had insured that, but the emerald eyed beauty could never bring herself to kill. She tapped the pen against the paper than slumped back into her desk chair, letting a drawn out sigh escape her lips. Natsuki rubbed the bridge of her nose. It seemed so easy at first, but she just could seem to bring herself to sign the contract. The recruit had been ecstatic when she had shown up and asked for a contract, it was no secret that Natsuki excelled in muay thai and thai boxing. She also, was captain of the track and archery team at her school. _Okay, was, before I started skipping classes and all._

At first it wasn't so bad, but than she just couldn't bring herself to show up anymore. What was the point? The whole reason she ever bothered to show up was so she could bring home a piece of paper with seven red 'A' marks on it and see her parents faces. Much to Natsuki's dismay that had stopped when the fighting started. The cobalt haired teen didn't want to take out her family problems on her friends, so she did the only thing she could have to relieve the stress. Join the Otome, a ruthless gang know to think with their fist if they thought at all. There was not a single male member, only females were allowed. The Otome even had their own stocks to buy weapons, so needless to say they did not let anyone live on their raids. Natsuki had gotten in trouble countless times for not killing, but the leader seemed have taken liking to her so let it pass. But their last raid hadn't gone as well as they normally did. When not taking someone else's life had almost caused the death of the leader's right hand (wo)man, she had decided it needed to stop.

"_Kuga this has gone on long enough." The ominous voice growled. Natsuki kept her head down, too nervous to look the enraged leader in the eye. It wasn't a gang were they simply let someone go. Once you're in, you stay till death. Even if it means they deal the black card themselves to the members that backed down._

"_Tomorrow you'll be put in a ring with one of our prisoners. You will be armed with a pistol, them a knife. It's killed or be killed, Kuga. I will not risk this again." The room became pin drop silence, no one dared to say a thing. Natsuki swallowed but nodded, she was too afraid to say anything. Normally people thought of her as the Ice Wolf, badass to the T. The woman gestured for her to leave, which she gladly did so._

A frustrated sigh escaped her lips, the pen dropped on the desk. Natsuki snapped up when she heard a door slam loudly down stairs. The yelling started, glass shattered. The emerald eyed teen knew they would break things, but never hurt each other. Was she the cause of their pain? She had, after all been a mistake. Her parents seemed to forget that voices traveled in their house, especially when their friends were over talking about high school years. Another scream ringed through the house.

Natsuki picked up the pen without a second thought and wrote on the thinly printed line. The sloppy hand writing read,

'Natsuki Kuga.'

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO**

**So tell me what you think, the chapters will be longer but right now I'm out of time. Any ideas are welcome, and I do need a beta. Please review.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2. Flirt much?**

**A/N: I got a beta! *cheers* That makes me happy. But right now I'm typing this on my iPod, so I can't bold on italic things now. Things might not make sense, I'll try my best to make sure I go back and fix it. **

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo**

The temperature in the room seemed to rise as crimson watched hazel. Shizuru smiled slyly, the girl, or as some may say victim, swooned at the sight. None of Shizuru's platoon members paid too much attention, this was a very common thing after all. The girl's cheeks were painted red, her breathing coming out in shallow pants.  
"I-I gu-guess I could S-Shizuru-sempai." She gave the taller girl a meek smile. Said person gave a sweet smile and patted the girl on the head. Once again she had gotten out of cleaning duty, so far she's gone out of it for three months now, a new record. Ever since Aries agreed to letting other countless come and recruit, Shizuru had required many new toys. The girl bowed lowly than excused herself, Shizuru waved good bye than turned around to see a pissed off red head.  
"Midori-San how may I be of help?" 'Oh yeah.' Shizuru thought to herself when a tick formed on her platoon leader's temple. 'Ara, looks like I've done it now.'  
"First off, I've told you this before, call me boss. And second, stop making the new recruits do your chores! How many times to I need to explain this to you, chores inlist discipline and build strength." Shizuru gave her a innocent look. Midori had to stop herself from slapping herself in the head. Man, this woman managed to test her patience. The platoon leader was feared but also well respected through out the military ranks. At the young age of seventeen she had managed to capture the leader of any enemy spy platoon.  
"Dammit Shizuru, you have no idea how close you are to being put on bathroom duty." The crimson eyed beauty instantly straightened her posture. Midori sighed, normally she'd make that a punishment for new recurits, but she was at wits end with this soldier.  
"Boss!" Both woman turned towards the talker. She had orange colored hair and was, well, busty.  
"What is it?" Shizuru had to stop herself from rolling her eyes at the panting girl. What, did Mikoto eat all the food again?  
"There's a fight! Tomoe and some new girl!" Now it was Shizuru's turn to groan. That girl had been placed under her charge, which meant if the idiot got in trouble, she got in trouble as well. Midori casted her a long look before they followed Mai towards the sound of cheers. A group of people were gathered in a circle, much to the bruntte's displeasure. She really hated having to go through crowds. That's why she enjoyed the military marching order so much. Everything was in tune with the rest.  
The three made their way though the crowd, people instantly going pale and some even leaving when they saw who it was. In the center of the circle, blood lightly drizzles on the floor. Tomoe, Shizuru quickly realized, was cradling her jaw, a cut was above her left eye which was black, and her right arm was hanging there as if it held no meaning. Across from her was a girl with deep blue hair, striking emerald eyes, and a glare to kill. Shizuru also saw the girl on her knees behind the new recruit.  
Tears were streaming down the girl's red cheeks.  
"What's going on here?" Midori's voice rang out, making all means of cheering stop. Tomoe had to stop herself from squealing at the sight of her sempai.  
"Th-that mo-monster at-attac-attacked me!" Many had to stop themselves from laughing at the sound of the hurt girl's voice. Mai assumed everyone could pick up on the fact her jaw was probably broken. The busty woman made her way behind the accused attacker to the girl on her knees with tears spilling out.  
"Shh it's okay now. Come on, I'll take you to get cleaned up." The girl allowed herself to be taken away by the cook.  
"Everyone move on. Nothing to see here, it's military complications, not for prying eyes." People left, not even daring to taken a second glance from the venom that was laced into each word spoken by the red was.  
"You, in my office. Tomoe, go get yourself fixed up now." Midori growled under her breath, hating that they had to set camp at a local hotel to get the recruits tested and assigned to platoons.

-0-

Natsuki lazily slumped into the ugly green chair in the temporary office.  
She knew she was in trouble, but didn't really care about it. After all, they weren't even on base yet so there wasn't much the platoon leader could do. Maybe.  
"First damn day and you're already raising hell." Midori gracefully sat down on the sofa across from where the emerald eyed girl sat. They shared a knowing glance, before both turned away.  
"Listen, Natsuki. I don't know why you suddenly changed your whole future three hundred and sixty degrees, nor do I care. It's already been decided you'll be in my platoon. I will only respect you if you respect me and your fellow soldiers."  
Natsuki nodded slowly, letting Midori know she was paying attention. The two had gone to the same martial arts dojo in their younger years, so they knew how the other ticked. Or so they'd like to think.  
"Now I'll get all three sides of the story. Please, Miss Kuga, explain to me why you decided to break Shizuru's student's jaw." Shizuru snapped up when she heard her name. Truth be told, she was starting to fall asleep.  
"Ara, I would indeed like to know as well." Natsuki sighed than rubbed the bridge of her nose. She really wasn't in the mood, couldn't they ask someone else?  
"That Tomoe person bummed into some girl and shoved her down demanding an apology. When the girl was too scared to say anything, I came in and merely stated that a soldiers job is to protect, not harm. She threw the first punch, I threw the first kick." Midori nodded, knowing very well how high Natsuki could kick. She winced slightly, her hand absently rubbing her side. The memory of broken ribs never left her.  
"Very well, know that this well not go unpunished. I must treat everyone equally with rank. You are dismissed private."

-0-

"Alright everyone get off your lazy butts and get in line! We eat on the bus, you'll go straight into training and set for platoons. We train as we move, no time to waste! So be ready to fight on the battler field anytime, and may God smile upon us!" People lined up just as told, those who fooled around quickly finding themselves doing push ups under the watchful glares of their superiors. Natsuki grabbed the packed lunch handed to her than made her way up the metal steps. She could hear the crying of family and friends, some people being begged not to go. _No one is here for me. They won't even realize I'm gone. _The bitter thought stayed strong in the emerald eyed teen's head, nothing else seeming to offer up and take its place. Natsuki didn't bother with looking back, in fear someone would be watching, someone who'd report back to her.Was it right for her to run away like this? Her parents seemed to always think Natsuki couldn't hear the fighting, objects breaking and pain marking every room in the house. The military was home now, in four years she'd be out and in collage. Natsuki didn't need the money, she needed the escape.  
Receiving a paper from the driver that had a seat number on it, Natsuki also realized it'd be her room mate as well. There was four room mates, but on two in each seat. Nodding her head slightly, the cobalt haired fighter made her way to her assigned seat. In the window seat was a girl around her age, her hair was a striking red and a spider tattoo on her wrist was also noticeable. So was the drool leaking from her mouth.  
"So you're our other roomy eh?" Natsuki snapped up, grabbing the hand that was about to touch her. A woman in her early twenties with black hair and a startled expression was the offender. She pulled back, hands held up defensively.  
"Chie, maybe you should stop trying to hit on everything with a pulse and sit down." The sleeping girl had woken up. She wiped the drool off her chin than turned her gaze to Natsuki. The cobalt haired teen had to admit, the girl's green eyes were something you didn't come by much.  
"If you spent as much time training as you did filing you're nails Nao, maybe you'd be head general." _Oh great, two friends that can't get along. Just what I need._

-0-

"Shizuru, did you put it in the lunches?" The red eyed beauty nodded, a small smirk playing on her lips. She loved this test, no one ever passed it.  
Mai nodded, a small smile playing on her lips as well. They shared a knowing glance with a cracked voice called out.  
"Ara, Tomoe how is your jaw?" She shrugged, pulling on her touch girl act with the best smile she could muster. Mai frowned, it was rather ugly in her opinion.  
"I'm doing just fine! That bitch doesn't hit very hard." Shizuru had to stop herself from face palming. _Ara, and that's why you have a cracked jaw and dislocated shoulder. Sure Tomoe, she doesn't hit hard. Whatever makes you sleep at night little one.  
_"They should be eating about now, shouldn't they?" Mai questioned, bringing Shizuru out of her thoughts.  
"Indeed."

-0-

Natsuki started at the sandwich in her hands. It didn't feel right, being able to squish the food product and not see white goo falling out. Her mom knew very well how Natsuki liked her food, but the military didn't care at all. Feeling a bit off, she looked at her red haired room mate. The teen had devoured the provided lunch without second thought to it. It just didn't set well with Natsuki.  
"You might want to eat that now. Don't want to throw it back up from eating too late and than having intense training eh?" Chie was standing somewhat on her knees, also having already finished her meal. They had already introduced themselves, none knowing who the four room mate was. They just hoped and prayed she'd be easy going. Natsuki finally took a bit, not use to having the flavor smoother in mayo. She could taste the ham, rotting lettuce, crusty bread and... Peach? She frowned and proceeded to take apart the food. That couldn't be right, there was no peaches on the sandwich, and the ham was smoked so he flavor couldn't be coming from there.  
"Hey did your guys sandwiches taste like peach?" They nodded, making the frown on Natsuki's face grow.

_"You see Natsuki? A peach can be food and a weapon all at the same time." The four year old Natsuki pouted, the peach in her hands untouched. The juices had made her fingers sticky, something she really hated. She looked up at her smiling father, his bright hazel eyes filled with years of knowledge.  
"Why's that papa?" He took out his pocket knife and asked for the peace. Natsuki handed it to him and watched as he easily cut it in half minus the seed. Kenji took out the large seed than bent over so his daughter could she.  
"The reason peaches had survived for as long as they have is because the seeds are poisonous. That way the animals wouldn't eat them. During some of the earlier wars, peach seeds were grounded up into a fine powder than put in food. Most people don't know they're harmful and dismiss it."_

Realization intensely hit Natsuki, she wiped around to her her room mates startling them both.  
"The food was poisoned! Puke it up!" The two set of eyes grew wide as diner plates as Natsuki spat out the bite she had. Growling and ignoring the no walking while bus is moving sign, Natsuki shoved the deadly food into the paper bag and stomped her way up to the front were platoon leaders and higher ups sat. Midori was surprised to see the girl, than noticed the bag in her hand. Had she figured it out? There was no way, no one had ever been able to.  
"What the hell Midori? Are you trying to kill us?" She yelled than slammed the bag in front of the startled red head. Shizuru watched the seen, shared the glance of surprise with Mai. Other recruits started to stop eating on hearing the news many turning pale.  
"Ara, well done Miss Kuga. You are correct, the food in poisoned but not with what you are likely thinking of. It's merely a sleeping agent, a test and relief put into two. A relief, because than we don't have to listen to a bunch of teenage girls and boys immature talking." Some of the other platoon leaders shared glances with each other, a few pleased to have fresh blood that wasn't as stupid as they normally came.  
"Now, Miss Kuga, if you'd return to your seat it would be pleasing to our platoon leaders. Ara, there is a no walking sign." Shizuru gave a bright smile, which didn't faze Natsuki at all. Mai looked at the girl curiously, everyone fell for that smile. Even she did once.  
The emerald eyed girl sighed, than turned around and stomped away, much the same way she had on the way up.

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**A/N: And there's chapter two, you guys got a look at Shizuru. I just realized that my summary says 'line' instead of 'lone.' it's suppose to be lone tear.**


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